UPEI remains unbeaten at home, defeats Memorial 104-94

(CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I.) - The UPEI Panthers have yet to lose at home, boasting a 6-0 record with a win over the Memorial Sea-Hawks at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre in front of 300 fans Sunday afternoon.

For the second day in a row, UPEI and Memorial played an almost even first half with the Panthers holding a seven-point lead after the first quarter, 21-14. Memorial would counter in the second quarter taking a one-point lead into halftime, 41-40. 

In the first half, the score was tied five times and the lead changed hand seven times.

Memorial's post players, Caleb Gould (Aurora, Ont.) and Vasilije Curcic (Kragujevac, Serbia), led the attack scoring 29 of their teams 41 points. The Panthers were led by Tyler Scott (Halifax, N.S.) who dropped in eight first-half points.

UPEI regained the lead by the end of the third quarter, 70-63, despite struggling to stop Memorial's centre, Curcic, who had 12 points in the quarter. This was, in large part, due to the Panthers' guard play led by Tyler Scott and Ellis Ffrench (Wolfville, N.S.) who shot five for eight from long range in the quarter.

Memorial's big men continued to take advantage of their size in the final quarter with Curcic finishing the game with 40 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Caleb Gould and Noel Moffatt (St. John's, N.L.) turned in impressive double-doubles. Gould with 26 points to go along with 12 rebounds and Moffatt adding 15 points and 10 rebounds.  

Despite the size advantage, the Panthers pulled away with five players scoring 12 or more points. Tyler Scott led the Panthers with 25 points, eight assists and three steals but it was Ellis Ffrench who put the game out of reach. Ffrench was big in the final frame going six for six from the charity stripe late in the game. He also scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth leading the Panthers to a 104-94 win.

UPEI's Ellis Ffrench was named the Subway player of the game.

UPEI (9-2) hosts Saint Mary's (5-4) next Friday night, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Memorial (2-8) travels to Halifax Saturday, Jan. 24 where they will play Dalhousie (6-4) at 8 p.m.

Source: Jonathan Lane for UPEI Sports Communications